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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOn the Wrong Side of Globalization
By JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ
Trade agreements are a subject that can cause the eyes to glaze over, but we should all be paying attention. Right now, there are trade proposals in the works that threaten to put most Americans on the wrong side of globalization.
The conflicting views about the agreements are actually tearing at the fabric of the Democratic Party, though you wouldnt know it from President Obamas rhetoric. In his State of the Union address, for example, he blandly referred to new trade partnerships that would create more jobs. Most immediately at issue is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which would bring together 12 countries along the Pacific Rim in what would be the largest free trade area in the world.
Negotiations for the TPP began in 2010, for the purpose, according to the United States Trade Representative, of increasing trade and investment, through lowering tariffs and other trade barriers among participating countries. But the TPP negotiations have been taking place in secret, forcing us to rely on leaked drafts to guess at the proposed provisions. At the same time, Congress introduced a bill this year that would grant the White House filibuster-proof fast-track authority, under which Congress simply approves or rejects whatever trade agreement is put before it, without revisions or amendments.
Controversy has erupted, and justifiably so. Based on the leaks and the history of arrangements in past trade pacts it is easy to infer the shape of the whole TPP, and it doesnt look good. There is a real risk that it will benefit the wealthiest sliver of the American and global elite at the expense of everyone else. The fact that such a plan is under consideration at all is testament to how deeply inequality reverberates through our economic policies.
Worse, agreements like the TPP are only one aspect of a larger problem: our gross mismanagement of globalization.
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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/on-the-wrong-side-of-globalization/?src=rechp
WillyT
(72,631 posts)Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)This reeks to high heavens. May the stench gain critical mass for us proles with the numbers, prevail over the few with the power.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)They also released some docs on the Internet, also not good!
But apparently Congress has not been able to get to see what they are going to be asked to vote for. So many secrets we have to now rely on Whistle Blowers to find out what is going on. Even Congress is relying on leaks it appears.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)The results from Obama's South Korean Trade Treaty were released this week.
The News is NOT good for American Workers,
but GREAT for the global 1%.
The TPP is reportedly built upon the framework of the South Korean Trade Treaty,
and reportedly contains whole segments verbatim.
Ed Schultz:
"You can NOT say you support the American Middle Class,
AND support these Free Trade Deals at the same time."